Protecting Girls: Thinking about Ted Kennedy's Groody concerns

Pia de Solenni

During yesterday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearings to confirm Judge Samuel Alito, Senator Ted Kennedy attempted to paint Alito as someone who had scarred a ten-year old girl for life.

But Senator Kennedy blithely skipped by the facts of Groody and the tragic circumstances of this young girl's life. Instead he pinned the blame on law enforcement and the courts, hammering away at the "scars" that she'll suffer on account of the search:

Senator Kennedy asked:

Why did you feel that, under these circumstances...under these circumstances. . . that that affidavit should be included, the result of which we have the strip-searching of a 10-year-old -- a 10-year-old that will bear the scars of that kind of activity probably for the rest of her life.

He continued:

...as a result of your judgment in this case and the inclusion of the Affidavit, we have the kind of conduct against this 10-year-old which she will never forget...Why, Judge Alito?

Why, indeed. Why, Senator Kennedy?, that is. If Kennedy is so concerned with the scarring of a ten-year old for life -- a legitimate concern -- why doesn't that concern extend to young girls who are taken across state lines for an abortion without the knowledge or consent of at least one of their parents?

Read the entire article on the National Review website (new window will open).